The first time I heard a Bob Dylan song in 1975, was a young scout at a weekend camp, in the grounds of Haddo House in Aberdeenshire, ‘Blowing in the Wind’ was sung in the guise of a campfire song . As I was only aware of the music in the Radio 1 charts, and bands and music on Top of the Pops, I had no idea where the song came from, maybe it was one selected from a book in the library, a guitar player’s ‘how to’ book, like Bert Weedon’s ‘Hold Down a Chord’ with which my brother later taught himself to play guitar . I later found out that it was written by Bob Dylan, and yes I had heard it before, it was on one of my parents’ records , ‘Hide and Seekers’, by the Seekers, an Australian folk-pop group of the ’60’s. As a kid, I recall songs sung around campfires at cub and scout camps , in the early -mid ’70s, which I know almost fifty years later, to be folk songs : ‘Ain’t Gonna Grieve (My Lord No More)’, a traditional spiritual with added words from the previous decade, I would think , ‘Oh you’ll never get to Heaven in a corn beef tin, ’cause God won’t let no Typhoid in , referencing the Typhoid outbreak in Aberdeen in the early ’60s, and ‘Oh You’ll never get to Heaven on a boy scout’s knee, ’cause a boy scout’s knee is too wobbly‘ , all very much of its time. ‘We Shall Overcome’, and ‘Michael Row The Boat Ashore’, I later learned were Pete Seeger songs, and ‘The Irish Rover’ with the background howling of attention seeking fellow scouts at the verse referencing the death of the captain’s dog , of course, this Irish traditional folk song was given a raucous revamp in 1987 by the Pogues and the Dubliners , when the Dubliners celebrated their 25th anniversary.
The songs I have mentioned, are just a few that come to mind, and there are certainly more where that came from perhaps for another day and blog.
This recollection from my childhood had me also recalling that Dylan had played ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ when I saw him live in Glasgow in the late 1990’s touring with Van Morrison in support, promoting the ‘Time Out of Mind’ album. He played a beautiful solo acoustic version of this, and it certainly lingered in my mind for a long time after. From ‘The Freewheeling Bob Dylan’, ‘Blowin’ In the Wind’ was recorded in 1962, and Dylan played it at his first solo residency at Gerdes Folk City , the famous club in New York, and I would say its a classic , up there with the likes of Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’, or Elvis Presley’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ , music that has really stood the test of time. The lyrics are poetic and timeless, like a biblical passage, or poem from another age , something with meaning , of value.
When I first read Stephen King in the early ’80s , I was always pleased to see him quoting Dylan lyrics in his stories, as it chimed with my musical taste, also a short story, by William Gay, ‘The Man who knew Dylan’ which I have recently read . To me that’s always a good thing, as I have said in a previous blog, I do like a musical reference or quote in the books I read, maybe its just me. Anyhow, Dylan’s lyrics, along with that of Jim Morrison, and the likes of Jack Kerouac, were a formative influence on my early attempts at poetry, and in time I found my own voice.
I recall saying to a friend in the ’80s, in a boozy conversation in one of the busy pubs of Aberdeen, that the music of Dylan, and Elvis Costello would last forever, like that of Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, maybe I was talking sense.
Most of you will know the song by Adele, ‘Make You Feel My Love’, which was popular in 2009, but maybe won’t know it is a Dylan song, I thought I would mention that.
I do like a cover version, and have a few favourite Dylan covers which I will share , ok a top 10 of them, in no particular order, no doubt these can all be found online, I haven’t checked ….yet.
All Along The Watchtower- Jimi Hendrix.
Girl from the North Country- The Waterboys.
Highway 61 Revisited- The Dylan Project ( feat. Steve Gibbons).
Death is Not The End- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
I’ll Keep it with Mine- Marianne Faithfull.
One More Cup of Coffee- Robert Plant.
Everything is Broken- Lucinda Williams.
Sweetheart Like You- Chrissie Hynde.
What Was it That You Wanted- Willie Nelson.
Man In the Long Black Coat- Mark Lanegan.
The Eclectic Audio Lab 